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Series 2 (UK)
The second series of the UK version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ran for thirteen consecutive nights on ITV, between 1 and 13 January 1999. It was hosted by Chris Tarrant. The episode of 9 January 1999 saw Martin Skillings and Ian Horswell become the first two contestants to win £125,000, at the time the biggest amount of money won by a single contestant on any game show in the world. Episodes * Show 1 (1st January 1999) Jason Vaughan (£16,000) Tony Carey (£1,000, continued) * Show 2 (2nd January 1999) Tony Carey (£1,000 - lost on £4,000) Paula Wellfair (£4,000) Victoria Kaye (£16,000) Paul Beverley (£32,000, continued) * Show 3 (3rd January 1999) Paul Beverley (£32,000 - lost on £125,000) Sarah Woodier (£1,000 - lost on £8,000) Donna Blake (£1,000, continued) * Show 4 (4th January 1999) Donna Blake (£1,000 - lost on £4,000) David Yule (£32,000 - lost on £64,000) David Hogg (£300, continued) * Show 5 (5th January 1999) David Hogg (£64,000) Neil Muir (£8,000, continued) * Show 6 (6th January 1999) Neil Muir (£64,000; stripped) Fiona McKenzie (£16,000) * Show 7 (7th January 1999) Pat Linehan (£16,000) Fiona Wheeler (£1,000, continued) * Show 8 (8th January 1999) Fiona Wheeler (£32,000 - lost on £64,000) Martin Skillings (£2,000, continued) * Show 9 (9th January 1999) Martin Skillings (£125,000) Ian Horswell (£125,000) Gary Cunning (£16,000) * Show 10 (10th January 1999) Tristan Burt (£16,000) John Davidson (£0 - lost on £1,000) Karen Ozdemir (£500, continued) * Show 11 (11th January 1999) Karen Ozdemir (£16,000) Mark Manley (£16,000, continued) * Show 12 (12th January 1999) Mark Manley (£16,000) Roger Maynard (£32,000 - lost on £64,000) Lisa Hixson (£16,000) Len Munday (£1,000 - lost on £8,000) Denis Burton (£300, continued) * Show 13 (13th January 1999) Denis Burton (£1,000 - lost on £16,000) Matthew Norways (£1,000 - lost on £16,000) Lifelines *50:50 *Phone-A-Friend *Ask The Audience Notable moments *This was the first series, anywhere in the world, to air in 1999. *This series introduced some changes: **Contestants were required to put four answers in the correct order during Fastest Finger First. This never changed until the round was removed. **Chris no longer saw the answer on his screen until the contestant "locked in" their answer. In Series 1, Chris could see the answer, which allowed him to "coerce" a contestant if time was running short on an episode, or the contestant was clearly struggling. **Contestants were required to state "Final Answer" to validate the answer that they wanted to lock in. Although Chris sometimes asked for "Final Answer?" in higher value questions, this was not a requirement. This change was made after a contestant in Series 1 was discussing the answers of a question and one of the answers they uttered was locked in, even though it was not the answer they had wanted to select. This brought the UK edition in line with the show in other countries, where it had been part of the rule book. It also coincided nicely with the change where Chris cannot see the answer until a "Final Answer" has been locked in. **The positions of the upper lighting used to create the atmosphere were changed somewhat. The inner lights were brought down in a straight line, rather than inwards like the outer lights that dimmed the audience. *Although Martin Skillings and Ian Horswell were the first two £125,000 winners, Paul Beverley was the first contestant to answer the £125,000 question, on the episode of 3 January 1999. He answered incorrectly, thus losing £32,000 (and, as a result, becoming the first contestant to leave with £32,000). *The same episode saw the first instance of the most favoured answer during Ask the Audience being wrong: in response to the question "What is a sheet on board a boat?", 65% of the audience went with "a sail", when the correct answer was "a rope". The contestant, Sarah Woodier, went with "a sail" and thus lost £3,000. *Neil Muir became the first contestant on the UK version to be subsequently stripped of his winnings, losing his £64,000 after it was discovered that he had a criminal record. *John Davidson was the first contestant anywhere in the world to leave with nothing, on the episode of 10 January 1999, after incorrectly answering the £1,000 question. *Among the other contestants in this episode was Nathan Birtle, who eventually made it into the hot seat in series 9 in early 2001 and won £250,000. 02